Final Image Preview

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Step 1

Create a new document, 1600px for the width and 1000px for the height. Set the Foreground color to #8a5a01, and the Background color to #ba9145, then drag a Linear Gradient from left to right. You can choose your own colors as well, or add an adjustment layer to change the colors as shown in the end of this tutorial.

Create the text using the font BorisBlackBloxx, and the Size of 400 pt.

Use the Pen Tool, and make sure to click the Paths icon in the Options bar, to draw a curve in the middle of the first letter. Add the main anchor points, you can modify them later.

If you think that the curve needs more anchor (control) points, you can always add ones using the Add Anchor Point Tool.

Then, you can use the Direct Selection Tool to click and drag the curve’s anchor points or the direction lines.

Step 2

Create a new layer on top of of all layers, and with the Pen Tool still active, right click on the path and choose Stroke Path.

Choose Brush from the Tool drop down menu and make sure that the Simulate Pressure box is un-checked.

This will stroke the path with the modified brush. Hit Enter to get rid of the path.

Create a new path near the inner edge of the letter, and stroke the path on a new layer.

Do the same for the outer edge as well. You will end up having three layers, one for each stroke.

Repeat the same process for the remaining letters. You can use custom shapes instead of drawing the curves when possible (like using the Ellipse Tool, with the Paths icon in the Options bar clicked, for the O letter).

Remeber to stroke the path on a separate layer each time.

You can duplicate any layers for the same letters.

Once you’re done, each letter will have 3 layers covering it with dots.

Step 3

Make the original text layer invisible (by clicking the eye icon next to it), because we don’t need it.

Select all the Dots layers, then go to Layer -> Merge Layers (Ctrl + E) to merge them in one layer, and call it “Merged Dots”.

Use the Erase Tool to get rid of any dots that are not aligned with the others.

Make sure that the “Merged Dots” layer is active (selected), then go to Select -> Load Selection. Choose the “Merged Dots Transperancy” Channel. This will select the layer’s contents (the dots).

Pick the Gradient Tool, and choose the Spectrum Gradient. Create a new layer on top of all layers and call it “Gradient”, then fill the selection with the gradient.

Make the “Merged Dots” Layer invisible.

Step 4

Go to Edit -> Transform -> Perspective, and move the corners as shown below. You can transform the text as you like for now, and you can do that again anytime you think the text needs more perspective later on. Once you’re done hit Enter.

Pick the Lasso Tool, and create a selection around the first letter, then press Ctrl + J to duplicate it in a separate layer. Rename that layer to the letter it contains.

Repeat the same for the other letters. Once you have a layer for each letter, make the “Gradient” layer invisible.

Step 5

Duplicate the first letter’s layer.

Go to Filter -> Blur -> Motion Blur, and set the values as shown below:

Make four duplicates of the copy layer.

Merge the “copy” layers, and move them below the original letter’s layer.

Go to Edit -> Trasform -> Perspective, and transform the merged “copy” layer to make the blurred part look like an extension of the original letter.

Erase the blurred parts to the left.

This is what you should get. You can make the other letters layers invisible if you like.

Pick the Blur Tool, and change the Options bar settings as shown below, then blur the lateral part of the extension.

Use a soft brush with an Opacity value of 30% to slightly erase the end of the extension, so that it looks feathered out.

Repeat the same steps for each letter.

Step 6

Merge the original letters layers in one layer and rename it to whatever text you have.

Duplicate each one of the extension layers to make them more vivid.

Duplicate the merged letters’ layer (cool), and drag the copy layer below the original one.

Go to Filter -> Blur -> Gaussian Blur, and enter 2.5 for the Raduis.

Step 7

Create a new layer right on top of the Background layer and call it “Shadow”. Set the Foreground color to #634016, and use a soft round brush (500 px) to paint a shadow below the text.

Go to Filter -> Blur -> Gaussian Blur and enter 20 for the Raduis.

Change the “Shadow” layer’s Blend Mode to Multiply and its Opacity to 70%.

If you want you can select all the visible layers (except for the Background), then go to Edit -> Transform -> Perspective, and rotate the text even more.

Step 8

If you’d like to change the Background colors to add more contrast, then select the Background layer, and click the Create new fill or adjustment layer down the Layers panel, then choose “Hue/Saturation”.

Change the Values as shown below:

Once again, click the Create new fill or adjustment layer, but choose “Levels” this time. Change the values as shown below:

Finally, select the “Shadow” layer once again, then go to Image -> Adjustments -> Hue/Saturation, and change the Saturation value to to -100 (to match the new Background colors).

Final Image Preview

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Step 1: Setting the Stage

Let’s start by making a new document in Photoshop. I created a new document sized 500 x 500 pixels with all the default settings, RGB, 72 DPI, etc.

After creating your document, set the Foreground color to #393943 and the Background color to #100e19, then fill the Background with a Radial Gradient.

Duplicate the Background layer (Ctrl+J).

Double click the “Background copy” layer to apply a Pattern Overlay layer style. Change the Blend Mode to Multiply, the Opacity to 70%, and the Scale to 25%. Use the starnetblog_tileable_metal_texture8.jpg image from the 9 tileable metal textures pack, (it is also the second pattern in the .pat file), as the Pattern.

You can play around with the values, for example, other good layer modes to use in this case are Soft Light, Vivid Light, and Color Dodge. You can as well choose different patterns, but you might need to adjust the Scale value if you do so.

Get out the Rectangular Marquee Tool. Click the Add to Selection icon in the Options bar at the top, and set the Style to Fixed Size, then type 50% in both the Width and Height boxes. Drag your selection onto the canvas then into the bottom right corner of your canvas, do the same but in the top left corner.

Create a new layer on top of all layers and call it “Dark Squares”, and fill the selections with the Background color (#100e19). Go to Select -> Deselect (or press Ctrl + D) to get rid of the selections.

Lower the Opacity for this layer to 25%.

Use a large soft brush to erase away the center (middle area) of the squares, so you get something like this:

Create a new layer on top of all layers and call it “Light Squares”. Repeate the previous steps to create two more selections in the empty corners, and this time use the Foreground color (#393943) to fill the selections.

Create another new layer on top of all layers and call it “Grunge Brush”. Use the brushes from the Grungy Brush package to add a bit of grunge at the bottom of the document, using the Foreground color (#393943) as the brush color.

Change the layer’s Blend Mode to Multiply and lower the Opacity to something around 40%.

Step 2: Setting Up your Text

This is the easy part. Get out the Horizontal Type Tool (T) and write your text in whatever color you want. The font used is Impact, and the size is 80px. You can use any other font you like, bolder fonts give a better result.

Double click the text layer to apply the following Layer Styles:

- Drop Shadow: Change the Opacity to 85%, the Distance to 2, and the Size to 15.

- Inner Shadow: Change the Blend Mode to Color Dodge, the color to #a98e0f, the Opacity to 50%, the Distance to 1, and the Size to 0.

- Inner Glow: Change the Blend Mode to Linear Dodge, the Opacity to 55%, the color to #fae48f, the Size to 3, and the Range to 70%.

- Gradient Overlay: Check the Reverse box, and change the Scale to 55%.

Click the Gradient box to create the gradient using the colors #fae48f, #ffc230 and #9f7f00. Position the color stops as shown below:

This is how your text should look like after applying the Layer Styles:

The last thing we’re going to do is adding some sparkles! So create a new layer on top of all layers, set the Foreground color to white, and use a sparkles brush to create some sparkles around your text.

Final Image Preview

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Step 1

Create a new document, 1152×864 pixels, set the Foreground color to #006d68, and the Background color to #004e49, then, go to Filter -> Render -> Clouds.

Place the “fire texture 02″ on top of the Background layer, and change its layer’s Blend Mode to Multiply, and its Opacity to 50%.

Place the “Weathered Texture” on top of both layers and change its layer’s Blend Mode to Soft Light.

Step 2

Create the text using the color #7b7b7b. The font used is “Atrox”, and the Size is 330 pt.

Duplicate the text layer, and change the copy’s Fill value to 0%.

Step 3

Double click the original text layer to apply the following Layer Style.

- Drop Shadow: Just change the color to #686868.

- Inner Shadow: Change the color to #737373, the Distance to 0 and the Size to 10.

- Bevel and Emboss: Change the Technique to Chisel Hard, the Depth to 150, the Size to 27, and the Soften value to 5. Un-check the Use Global Light box, then, change the Angle to 90, the Altitude to 30, the Gloss Contour to Gaussian, and check the Anti-aliased box. Also, change the Highlight Mode to Overlay, its color to #ded96c, and the Shadow Mode’s color to #7b7b7b.

This is what you should get after applying the style above:

Step 4

Press the Ctrl/Cmd key, and click a text layer’s tumbnail (icon) to create a selection.

Create a new layer between the two text layers and call it “Texture”. Fill the selection with the color #005954. Then go to Select -> Deselect (or press Ctrl/Cmd + D) to get rid of the selection.

Set the Foreground color to #006d68 and the Background color to #004e49.

Step 5

It’s time to apply the Filters to create the texture, so change the values as shown in the images below for each filter. Start by going to Filter- > Texture -> Mosaic Tiles:

Next, go to Filter -> Artistic -> Dry Brush:

Now, change the “Texture” layer’s Blend Mode to Hard Light.

Step 6

Double click the copy (top) text layer to apply the following Layer Style.

- Outer Glow: change the Blend Mode to Overlay, and the color to #00a49d.

- Inner Glow: Change the Blend Mode to Overlay, the Opacity to 50%, the Noise to 50% as well, the color to 8df4f2, the Technique to Precise, the Source to Center, and the Size to 20.

- Bevel and Emboss: change the Technique to Chisel Hard, the Depth to 150, and the Size to 10. Un-check the Use Global Light box, then, change the Angle to 110, the Altitude to 15, the Gloss Contour to Cove – Deep, and check the Anti-aliased box. Also, change the Highlight Mode to Vivid Light, and the Shadow Mode’s color to #7b7b7b.

Step 9

Ctrl/Cmd + Click a text layer’s thumbnail once again to create a selection, then press Delete to get rid of the inner part of the stroke. .

With the text selection still active, create a new layer on top of all layers and call it “Soft Brush”, then change its Blend Mode to Overlay and its Opacity to 50%. Set the Foreground color to #90eadc, and use a soft round brush, with a quite big size (aroud 100 px) to add some bright dots over some parts of the text. Try not to add too much dots as this will ruin the original effect.

Create another new layer on top of all layers and call it “Color Brush”, then change its Blend Mode to Hue and its Opacity to 20%. Set the Foreground color to #eaddd6, and use a little bit bigger soft round brush (aroud 150 px) to add some color dots. The color is very subtle, but it adds nice depth to the effect. Try not to overdo it as well.

Step 10

Next, we are going to apply the same effect using different colors to a star shape. So pick the Polygon Tool, and make sure that the “Shape Layers” icon in the Options bar is clicked, then enter 5 in the “Sides” box.

Also in the Options bar, under the Polygon Options, check the Star box and set the “Indente Sides By:” value to 50%. Then, set the Foreground color to #7b7b7b.

Create the star shape wherever you want to, then duplicate the shape layer and set the copy’s Fill value to 0%.

Step 11

Double click the original shape layer to apply the following Layer Style:

- Drop Shadow: Change the color to #686868, the Distance to 3, and the Size to 3 as well.

- Inner Shadow: Change the color to #737373, the Distance to 0 and the Size to 5.

- Bevel and Emboss: Change the Technique to Chisel Hard, the Depth to 150, the Size to 14, and the Soften value to 3. Un-check the Use Global Light box, then, change the Angle to 90, the Altitude to 30, the Gloss Contour to Gaussian, and check the Anti-aliased box. Also, change the Highlight Mode to Overlay, its color to #ded96c, and the Shadow Mode’s color to #7b7b7b.

This is almost the same Layer Style applied to the original text layer, but using different size values to suit the shape used. So you can modify the values depending on the shape you created and its size compared to the text.

Step 12

Now double click the copy shape layer to apply the following Layer Style:

- Outer Glow: Change the Blend Mode to Overlay, the color to #a46000, and the Size to 3.

- Inner Glow: Change the Blend Mode to Overlay, the Opacity to 50%, the Noise to 50% as well, the color to #cfad7b, the Technique to Precise, the Source to Center, and the Size to 10.

- Bevel and Emboss: Change the Technique to Chisel Hard, and the Depth to 150. Un-check the Use Global Light box, then, change the Angle to 110, the Altitude to 15, the Gloss Contour to Cove – Deep, and check the Anti-aliased box. Also, change the Highlight Mode to Vivid Light, and the Shadow Mode’s color to #7b7b7b.

- Texture: Choose the Metallic Snakeskin Pattern, then change the Scale to 50% and the Depth to 20.

Once again, this is similar to the copy text layer’s Layer Styles, but with different size and color values.

Step 13

Create a new layer on top of the original shape layer, call it “Star Texture”, and change its Blend Mode to Hard Light. Then Ctrl/Cmd + Click the shape’s vector mask thumbnail to create a selection.

Fill the selection with the color #8f7708, then press Ctrl/Cmd + D to get rid of the selection.

Set the Foreground color to #4e4400 and the Background color to #8f7708. It’s time to apply the Filters to create the texture (like we did in Step 5), so change the values as shown in the images below for each filter. Start by going to Filter- > Texture -> Mosaic Tiles:

Next, go to Filter -> Artistic -> Dry Brush:

Step 14

Creating the path to add the stroke is a little bit different as this is a shape. You’ll need to pick the Direct Selection Tool, click the star shape itself, then click and drag around the star shape to select its anchor points. After that, go to Edit -> Copy to copy the path

Create a new layer below the original shape layer and call it “Star Stroke”, then go to Edit -> Paste to paste the path to the new layer.

Set the Foreground color to #958938 and choose a hard round 7 px brush.

Pick the Direct Selection Tool again, then stroke the path just like you did before. Right click the path you’ve just created, and choose Stroke Path. Choose Brush from the Tool drop down menu, and make sure that the Simulate Pressure box is unchecked. Hit Enter/Return to get rid of the path.

After that, Ctrl/Cmd + Click the shape layer’s vector mask thumbnail and press Delete to get rid of the inner parts of the Stroke, and preass Ctrl/Cmd + D to get rid of the selection.

Step 15

Double click the “Star Stroke” layer to apply the following Layer Style:

- Drop Shadow: Just change the Size to 2.

- Bevel and Emboss: Change the Gloss Contour to Cone – Inverted and check the Anti-aliased box. Also, change the Highlight Mode to Vivid Light, and the Shadow Mode’s color to #9e8e00.